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An Afghan mob attacked a United Nations compound last Friday, killing seven UN workers and setting fire to the compound. The attack occurred after several hours of peaceful protests, broadcast online, over the burning of a Qur'an by a Florida pastor. The protest occurred in the northern Afghanistan city of Mazar-e-Sharif and was in response to reports that controversial US pastor Terry Jones had instigated the burning of a Qur'an on March 20 by his colleague Wayne Sapp at the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida. Jones drew cr

Southwest Airlines Flight 812 carrying 118 passengers between Phoenix, Arizona and Sacramento, California was forced to divert to the Yuma Marine Corps Air Station in Arizona, after a hole appeared in the top of the aircraft; the plane landed safely at Yuma. The plane was forced to make an emergency descent down to 11,000 feet and reportedly descended 16,000 feet in one minute. One passenger identified as Cindy said, "[t]hey had just taken drink orders when I heard a huge sound and oxygen masks came down and we started making a rapid decent. T

The national football team of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been banned by FIFA, the sport's international governing body. The ban comes after the Bosnian Football Federation (NSBIH) rejected a demand from FIFA to change its three-man presidency to a single president. The change was rejected on Wednesday during an NSBIH meeting, causing FIFA and European football governing body UEFA to make the decision to suspend the federation. FIFA and UEFA said in a statement that "[t]he NSBIH representative and club teams are no longer entitled to take part

A bomb positioned below the car of a police officer in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom has exploded, killing him. The unidentified 25-year-old officer, recently employed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland after graduating from a college of police training three weeks prior, was directly involved in the incident as he sat inside the vehicle outside his residence in Omagh, County Tyrone, which occurred at a time immediately before 1600 BST (1500 UTC) today. The man, who died at this location, has now been identified as Constable Ronan Ker

Violent protests over the burning of a Qur'an by a US church spread on Saturday to the southern Afghanistan city of Kandahar, a day after an angry mob attacked a United Nations compound at Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, killing seven UN workers and four Afghan protesters. According to Kandahar officials, the protests over the desecration of the Qur'an in Florida a month ago started peacefully but became violent when mobs began roaming the streets, vandalizing buildings and burning cars. Afghan police and US soldiers tried to prot

The fallout from earthquake and tsunami catastrophes in Japan will cost Australia about A$2 billion in lost export earnings in the near term due to lower Australian exports to Japan, according to estimates in a Treasury brief released Thursday. After China, Japan is Australia’s largest export market, making up 15 percent of its total exports. "The tragic events in Japan—together with the impact of floods and Cyclone Yasi at home—will clearly mean revenues take a substantial hit in the near term", Treasurer Wayne Swan said in the brief. S

A number of new reports suggest that more of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's inner circle have deserted him. Al Jazeera reports that a group of top officials who "headed to Tunisia for talks have decided to stay there". Among the defectors reported are the head of Libya's Popular Commitee, Mohammad Abu Al Qassim Al Zawi, and Abu Zayed Dordah, Libya's prime minister from 1990 to 1994. Gaddafi's Europe minister and head of intelligence have also defected according to reports. Security sources suggest that the total number of defectors could be u

A morbidly obese Ohio man died Wednesday after being found unconscious in his home several days earlier. The man had been sitting in a chair for two years and was physically fused to it when he was discovered by two roommates, one of which was his girlfriend. Authorities who arrived at the house in Bellaire reported seeing the man sitting amidst his own urine and feces, which were infested with maggots. The man's skin had become attached to the recliner's cloth, said law enforcement officers, one of whom had to dispose of his uniform after res

Treasury documents released today under the Freedom of Information (FOI) act reveal that Australians could face up to an A$863 rise in household costs per annum if the government proceeds with its plans to put a tax on carbon emissions. The documents reveal an a annual price rise of $218.40 for electricity, $114.40 for gas, $187.20 for petrol and $88.40 for food for the average household. The treasury modelling was based on a $30 carbon tax, but also estimated other prices such as a $40 tax which predicted a rise of over $1,100 to the average

Tonga's largest criminal trial today ended in the conviction of four men and the state shipping firm over the sinking of MV Princess Ashika. 74 were killed when the ferry went down off Nuku'alofa in 2009. The vast majority of bodies remain missing. Only two were recovered, including one Tongan — a 21-year-old mother called Vae Fetu'u Taufa. The Shipping Corporation of Polynesia (SCP) manager John Jonesse, acting director of the national department for ports and marine affairs Viliami Tu'ipulotu, captain Viliami Makahokovalu Tuputupu, and first

United States President Barack Obama revealed Tuesday that he is considering supplying arms to Libyan rebels, among other things. Obama was quoted as saying, "if we [USA] wanted to get weapons into Libya, we probably could." During an interview with NBC News, Obama disclosed he is, "not ruling it out. But I'm also not ruling it in. We're still making an assessment partly about what Gaddafi's forces are going to be doing." Obama also informed that he would be willing to negotiate a deal with Gaddafi; however, one clause would involve Gadaffi re

Ed Miliband — the current leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom — and Justine Thornton, his long-term partner, have announced that they are now engaged to each other. They are anticipated to marry in Nottingham, England on May 27. The couple, who have been in a relationship for five years, currently have two children — Daniel, aged twenty-one months, and Samuel, who was born in November 2010. Until now, they had been "too busy" to perform the act of marriage, due to various occurrences; according to The